Black representation in sport | Deloitte UK
Written by Black Hot Fire Network on June 11, 2024
The issue of underrepresentation within the industry’s boardrooms and executive suites is damning given the contribution made in many sports by Black athletes.
Wafula Strike is the only Black board member among major sports in the UK representing UK Athletics and only 3% of board members identify as Black across the 130 Sport England and UK Sport funded bodies.
In contrast, around 30% of professional players of the UK’s most popular sport, football, are Black.
There is a worrying lack of representation in decision-making positions across all areas away from the pitch.
The impact of this is significant. There is so much to be gained when bringing together different viewpoints in a team across gender, culture, social classes as well as ethnic backgrounds.
Having different experiences and perspectives within a team enriches its overall ability, providing a broader skillset to draw from. A less diverse team will likely suffer from significantly overlapping skills and perspectives that may leave it blind to optimal solutions, approaches and delivery options, limiting its ability to achieve its goals.
What’s more, subconscious bias or homophily often inadvertently leads boards to hire like-minded individuals. Boards with two or more ethnically diverse directors are twice as likely to rate diversity as a high priority in comparison to boards with no ethnically diverse directors.1
Further, it was found that when filling open board seats (Director level), boards on average considered 0.2 ethnically diverse candidates per vacancy and 2.9 in total on average. Boards with two or more ethnically diverse directors considered an average of 1.0 candidates per vacancy and 3.9 in total.2
This trend then perpetuates, discouraging and diluting the incentives of Black individuals trying to break down these barriers. Having proudly managed to enter the industry, I’m passionate about trying to push this agenda forward and create more opportunities for diverse individuals to experience working in the industry many of us love.